Jamie Varner on Donald Cerrone: "We can run it back and see who the real man is"

After the WEC champ entered a post-WEC 43 weigh-ins Q&A session to a chorus of boos, one of the first questions asked was if he could explain the feeling of “living on his knees” rather than be willing to “die on his feet.”

But as Varner later explained to the San Antonio crowd, dealing with haters is just a part of the business, and he’s more than willing to deal with Donald Cerrone (10-1 MMA, 3-1 WEC), too.

“Fans are difficult,” Varner said. “They love you when you’re on top and knocking people out. But if there’s any sort of downfall or controversy?

“When you’re on top you can’t be touched. But even when you’re on top there will be haters.”

Varner currently remains on top as the WEC’s lightweight champ despite not competing since suffering extensive injuries in a hotly contested January contest with Cerrone.

Public disdain has grown for Varner following the conclusion of that contest due to an illegal strike from Cerrone in the fifth frame. But while Varner declared himself unfit to continue in that bout, the Arizona Combat Sports product reminded the crowd that he wasn’t awarded the win via disqualification.

“I don’t know if you guys watched the same fight, but Donald knows, I know, everybody that is a fighter knows that he had just as much opportunity to win that fight as I did,” Varner said. “The illegal knee at the end; he didn’t lose by disqualification. He lost by a decision. That means he had four rounds to win that fight.

“It wasn’t like I was just taking him down and laying on top of him. I broke my hand early on in the fight, and I still kept fighting. You guys had no idea.”

Regardless, Cerrone will face Benson Henderson in the main event of tonight’s Versus-broadcast “WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson” event for the WEC’s interim lightweight title. The winner is then set to face Varner to unify the titles, and the current champ said he’s itching to get back to competition.

And guess who he’s cheering for.

“The hand is 100 percent,” Varner said. “I got cleared last Monday, so I’m ready to get back in there.

“Honestly, I’m hoping for a good main event. I don’t care who wins, but for obvious reasons I would like to see Donald Cerrone win that fight.”

And of Cerrone proves victorious, Varner promises to prove the first result was no fluke.

“If you guys have any doubt – if he has any doubt – hopefully he wins that fight, and we can run it back and see who the real man is.”

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